Natasha Lyonne‘s Hollywood rise took her the better part of two decades. Before she emerged as one of the top showrunners of the prestige TV era after the success of “Russian Doll” in 2019, she found success as a teen star in films like “But I’m a Cheerleader” and the “Poker Face” star has some thoughts about the way some critics discussed her earlier work.
In a new interview with The Independent, Lyonne recalled an initial burst of fame when she starred in “But I’m a Cheerleader” alongside Clea DuVall in 1999. Some writers praised her for playing a gay character and promoting the film in gay publications, as if doing so was an act of courage.
“It was the most offensive thing in the world,” Lyonne saidr. “Like when they’d say to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, too, how ‘courageous’ it is. Fuck you! How dare you say that? Or like, ‘Why are you on the cover of Out Magazine with Clea DuVall but you’re not identifying as gay?’ Like, fuck you! It’s the cover of Out Magazine and Clea and I fucking love each other to death. So we’re gonna do our sexy little photoshoot. Nipples out, baby, let’s go! That’s why!”
Lyonne reiterated her support for the LGBTQ community and explained that she has no patience for people who try to make life more difficult for anyone based on immutable characteristics.
“Believe me, everyone is having a hard enough time being a human being all by themselves – straight, gay, fucking white and Black alike,” she said. “Like we’re all on this ride together trying to figure out why we’re supposed to work so hard knowing that we die in the end. We’re all in the same existential problem. So the idea that you’re gonna make it more difficult by causing unnecessary suffering? I hate it. I really just can’t stand for it.”
